Raeann said you called, I just wanted to say thanks for all the work you did for us while we were stranded in Miami. We all appreciated it very much. Turk was pretty cool everybody had a great time after it was all said and done. We really only lost 2 dives so it really wasnt a big deal. Please tell Mark thanks as well, he really went above and beyond the call of duty, just as you did.
Thanks again, talk to ya soon.

Grand Turk was great. I dove with Karen and Tony, who I guess you also set up to go. really nice folks. Mackey and Smitty took good care of me! It was the best reef/wall diving I've done. I feel certain I'll go back someday. The only thing that would prevent me form going back soon is that there are so many other places to explore before I settle on a list of favorites! I didn't read as many books as I anticipated, but only because I was also adopted by a group from Colorado and Nebraska! Oh well, worse things can happen. And Jenny was a sweetheart. I went to Turks head the first night, and you are right, it's great. But then I ended up at the Salt Raker the rest of the time. Everyone was terrific.

Thanks again and I will definitely keep you in mind for my next trip. If you have any ideas let me know! There are 3 of us.

Thanks again and keep in touch!

Liz

We loved Grand Turk!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Turks Head inn was wonderful. The diving was great and so was Sea Eye Diving. The only problem we had was with American Airlines and our luggage was lost for a couple of days but, we dove anyway. So, next time you get a good deal on Grand Turk let us know. We would go back in a second. Do you know anything about Island
house there? Also we would like to go to Bonaire next trip maybe in the winter time. Thanks again and let us know when you get special packages. Our schedules are somewhat flexible all the time.

Jennifer

What a great trip! Everybody had a great time on Grand Turk. I just got back to work today. I had a 1.5 hour commute to work!

Anyway, I was really impressed with everything. You were absolutely right about the Sea Eye Diving staff, they are incredibly accommodating and very friendly. The staff set up our tanks, brought our snorkel gear to the boat, hung our wetsuits out to dry and rinsed our gear at the end and had it all dried and ready to pack. We did most of our dives with Cecil. He was 'spectacular' if I can use the word he used to describe all the reefs. Talking about the reefs... the coral is in excellent condition. We did not see a lot of big stuff, but saw plenty of turtles, octopus, flying gurnards.... the list goes on. The Sea Eye Diving staff really made a great impression on me, when the group decided to do a late afternoon pier dive, followed by a night dive, with pizza, beer and bonfire on the beach... they organized it all! the pizzas were delivered, the cooler filled with ice and drinks, all our gear with two tanks each was brought to the pier. They gave us a ride there and a ride back and we even had some of them join us on the dive. Amazing service.

The Gibbs Caye trip was a lot of fun and I definitely recommend it to everyone traveling to the island. It was the perfect end to our trip even though the occasional downpour came down on the Friday. The Turks Head Inn was just as good. The rooms were very nice, the air conditioning welcomed and the food was excellent.

The only complaints were; the high cost of food on the island in general and the initial difficulty we had in getting water to drink. The divers did not want to buy individual bottles of water for dinner but rather wanted a pitcher of water for the whole table. This request was often frowned upon.

Anyway I have to get back to the piles of paperwork left for me on my desk.
Thanks for help organizing the best group trip I have ever had! I'll keep in touch.

Genevieve

We had a wonderful time. Grand Turk, although very sleepy, is a wonderful place to dive. The walls are magnificent and the marine life abundant. We swam with 5 dolphins on one dive, saw one small (6 ft) manta ray, and lots of turtles. Sea Eye Diving is a great operation, very professional. We
did our diving with Smitty, and he really knows the area well. The bioluminescence on the night dives was phenomenal. With all the lights off, it felt like we were swimming through a galaxy. the only drawback is that the island has a high bug factor. Lots of mosquitos, no-see-ums, and cockroaches. It could be that they had just had 10 days of rain that contributed to this, but it was slightly annoying. Turks Head Hotel was very nice. We were in room #3, which was just renovated and was in great shape. The balcony was great for hanging out our wetsuits every night, but it would have been nice to have a view of the ocean. We met some people that had us up to their place at the Island House for a barbecue. If we go back, we would probably stay there for the superior view and the kitchen. However, we have no complaints about the Turks Head. There staff was very friendly and everything was fine. All in all, a great trip. It is quite depressing to be back at work, but
I'm probably going to start planning my next trip (Thailand?) soon. Thank you for all your help setting this up. Your welcome about ferrying the tickets to Connie. My pleasure.
Happy Diving,

Jarod

Saba was absolutely fabulous, wonderful, awesome, and every other adjective that one can imagine. On a scale of 1 - 10 it was an 11! We all four just fell in love with it. No poverty, no crime. No locks on the
doors. Everything was safe. The people were wonderful. The food was awesome. Every night they had a "special" at a different eating establishment. Monday night was Mexican night at Brigadoon, Tuesday night was B-B-Q at Swinging Door, one night was pizza night at Y2K, etc. The hiking, scenery, wildlife, vegetation were all outstanding. So far, this is the best island we have visited.

The diving was mostly deep (which we knew) and a couple of days we had current. We did manage to see everything and more that we had planned on. From snails to sea horses to sharks and lots of turtles both on the surface and below! We did a night dive on Friday, the13th (full moon) so the current was a little wild on that one.

The dive crew, and Matt in particular, were very good and took a lot of time with us. The boats were not overcrowded and individual attention was afforded to everyone.

I hope this answers all your questions (and more) and apologize for not responding sooner, but as you can relate things are always hectic after returning from vacation.

On another note, I would also like to add that I have never received such service as you have provided me not only prior, but during and after the sale. I really appreciate all your help and support and look forward to booking our next vacation.

Janet Zolman

Juliana's & Sea Saba
Everyone on the island of Saba was incredibly friendly. We were especially impressed by the knowledgeable dive staff at Sea Saba. Cissy, Paul and Steve were great dive masters and made everyone on the boat feel comfortable about the advanced diving conditions. We heard nothing but positive comments from the rest of the divers on the boat. Juliana and Franklin (at the hotel) made you feel like you were staying in their own home! We would not hesitate to go back!
Thanks

Vicki Leonard and Kevin Mudd

Just wanted to let you know what a wonderful trip we had to Yap and Palau .. Our first stop was Yap ,we stayed at pathways hotel. The hotel was very nice and everybody that works there went out of there way to make sure we were happy and taken care of. The diving in Yap was great . The first dive
everyday was manta ray channel ,we saw huge rays every morning . We all agreed this met one of our lifetime diving goals .(we are still looking for a whale shark) The dive staff at yap divers were very proffesional and also made the diving a lot of fun.

Our next stop was Palau we stayed a Carolines resort . I can not say enough about the charm and view of this place . If you go to Palau it is the only place to stay. The diving in Palau is second to none,large palegics everywhere sharks on every dive. We also went diving at pelilou island which was probably the best overall dive I have ever done. The land tour is also a must . Tangi the tour guide does a great job . he probably enjoys his job more than anybody I have ever met.

I would reccomend this trip to anyone I can not wait to go back. It is well worth the long plane ride . Thank you for all the work that you and Tanya did for us I know my friends and I can be a pain with changes and all .As always world dive adventures did a great job and I look forward to working with you
in the future.

take Care

Geoff Comstock
Dallas TX

You are just a little bit ahead of me ? I was going to write to you, but had to push around some other stuff, - usual thing after vacation.

The trip was excellent, rare combination of good diving and amazing hiking, though I?m bound to say that the hiking is better.

Coral reefs are beautiful, and underwater landscapes are diverse and very impressive, no questions about that, but the marine life is represented mostly by small stuff, no big games, rare 3-5 pounds jacks and occasional barracudas and turtles. Kindergarten, though really colorful. (Sorry, but I am spearfishman with long history, so maybe I?m just spoiled with what I?ve seen already).

Hiking is beyond imagination. I don?t want to repeat tour books ? I just confirm that all you can read about Dominica?s nature is not neither commercial nor exaggeration. It is true and definitely worth to see. Another additional advantage ? you will watch it practically alone, the island is not overcrowded with tourists at all. On the trail to Boiling Lake my wife and me were alone all the way. We spent 2 hours bathing in hot sulphor pools and did not bother to wet our bathing suits.

Some practical advises for those who follow:
1. Do not be afraid to do hiking on your own, especially if 5 and 50 bucks make a difference to you. Trails are clearly marked, local buses are cheap and reliable. God created the world without explanation, so you do not need a guide and all his talking. The man who checks the ticket at the trail?s head will give you all the information. Enjoy the nature.
2. All the hiking tours, except Boiling Lake, can be done in half a day, after diving. Boiling Lake is a must, believe me, but it requires the whole day and it should be the last day of your trip (if only you are not profy) ? you will not be able to walk next day, only fly.
3. I can recommend three tours in this sequence: i) Soufriere and Sulphur Springs (do not stop at lower public pool, go uphill and find your own). ii) Middleham waterfall (trail starting from Laudat). iii) Boiling Lake and Valley of Desolation (some say the volcano is a gate to the hell, I?m not sure - looks more like paradise).
4. I found local beer (Kubuli) worth to pay it very close attention.
5. As for diving ? try to make the dive operator to bring you to the Atlantic side. There is a pinnacle, 1-2 miles south of Scot?s Head (the most south point of the island), which my instinct tells me may be interesting in sense of big game.

Thank you very much again. For you personal information ? Dominica is very generous with visas, no visa needed from Russians and from huge list of other countries. This might be an important consideration when you deal with people like me.

We really liked the food: lamb, goat, all kinds of fish and shell fish, chicken, beef and tons of fresh local veggies and fruits. We ate all but two meals there and didn't get bored with the choices. Also, one of us
is a vegetarian and the the cooks were very accommodating. It helped that it was off season and we practically had the whole place to ourselves. One night there was a barbeque with free rum punch and the yummiest buffet. My favorite dessert was the lemon merange pie (I think I ate a whole one during the week!)

The pool was clean and on the ocean, no beach, sailing, windsurfing etc.

Ate lunch at the Forest Bistro, an organic restaurant above Souferie, so beautiful and quaint. The owner built the outdoor restaurant himself, above his house, and his wife cooks the food he grows and the fish he catches. The view of the bay through the mountains was gorgeous.

The boat was broken, so they chartered a nice dive boat from next door. Only we five divers and two or three others per day.

Divemasters:
Cornelius Morris and Micheal were friendly, knowledgeable and fun. Corny took us to a local bar for Quiz Night (we didn't win but came close) and was our guide to the Boiling Lake. He is a body builder and aerobics instructor too, so our hike was aerobic, we made the round trip in five hours instead of six to eight. A record, we decided!

Rental Equipment:
Regulators need work. Nothing failed, but it's old stuff. BC's were okay. Corny and Micheal loaded, unloaded and cleaned and stored the gear daily. We were pampered. Air Fills, Site selection, Saftety and Dive Briefing were fine. We had the dive sites to ourselves.

Dive Sites:
Most dives were out to Scott's Head. One dive had very heavy drift, the rest had little or no current. Visibility was reduced by plankton bloom, and lots of little jellies were around, stings were like mosquito bites without the welts. The sponges and corals were very colorful and healthy; the small stuff abundant: sea horses, nudibranchs, tons of bristle worms, coral shrimp, arrow crabs and small schooling fish,
several scorpion fish. One barracuda all week, one huge turtle, no queen angels, a few french and grey, no large fish really. No green morays but billions of spotted eels and golden eels of all sizes and a couple of sea snakes. Most dives were sixty feet or less. The water temp was perfect and Champagne really does have bubbles and hot water vents blasting from holes. It will burn your hand at 45 feet!

Shore diving at night was really awesome. The first night there were a half dozen scorpion fish resting on the sandy bottom near the hotel. Hermit crabs, free swimming eels, tons of sea urchins, star fish, squid,
octopus and found holes spouting very hot water from volcanic action. Saw several rays too and huge stone crabs as well as all sizes spiny lobster.

Corny even persuaded my non-diving daughter to do a resort course and now she's hooked and will get certified. He took her on six dives and she feels like a pro. We all are ready to go back.

In the afternoons we hiked to several gorgeous waterfalls and swam in the pools. My sons said these sites were the most beautiful they'd ever seen. The Valley of Desolation and Boiling Lake are really worth
seening, but only for the fit. The guide books are not exagerrating when they say "strenuous." We all are into fitness and work out at least one hour a day, and we all were exhausted after the trip. Even Corny got a sub for his aerobic's class that evening!

The drive through the rain forests to the hotel was beautiful. Definitely get a driver as the roads are narrow and the hairpin turns and head-on meetings had our hearts in our mouths, just like a 70 minute roller coaster ride. The weather was great, only rained on our last day. But we got the reward of a double rainbow.

The only complaint any of us had was the tendency of some of the locals in Roseau to "beg, " and not to take no for an answer when they'd offer to "guide us" somewhere. But we never felt in danger and nothing was stolen.

Dominca will be enjoyed by those divers who don't mind trading fancy amenities for a fabulous natural paradise and want to experience beauty above water and below it.

The Rohde's

Just wanted to drop a line and let you know the trip was a huge success! Thanks for everything!

We loved everything! The diving was pristine. The reefs were very healthy and busting with life. The only sad note was that the islanders have overfished some of the larger species like the groupers and angelfish and so there's a notable absence of large fish and an insanely high proportion of those creatures that are normally preyed on by the larger fish. Our divemaster Reggie was great. He has a terrific eye and was able to spot alot of cool stuff like a seahorse and a frogfish. The corals were healthy (not alot of gorgonians) and the sponges were enormous. Large populations of schooling fish in aggregates. Enormously huge feather duster worms, crinoids and sea anemones. Eels everywhere! Squid and octupus too! At night right in front of the resort, 2 of our divers saw schools of flying guanards, bat fish, turtles. To not see anything here, you would have to have your eyes closed! We also saw several sperm whales on the whale watch.

The hotel staff was polite and friendly. The food was terrific. The dinner menu changed every night and was interesting, expertly prepared and presented. The only difficulty we had was cashing traveler's checks and bills over $10. We may wish to advise traveler's to bring low demonination cash and/or make sure they make time to get to a bank. Also, the hotel staff kept trying to charge us for items that were included - but in all cases these misunderstandings were easily and quickly corrected.

We signed up for 2 more land tours because there was so many interesting things to do. The hotel's land guide, Jonathan was very knowledge, friendly and accomodating. Even when he picked us up at the airport he would stop and get out and bring back coffee beans, grapefruit, bay leaf, cinnamon, etc. He knew almost all of the names of the plants and flowers. The tours levels of difficulty may need revising for the average tourist however. The Freshwater Lake, Trafalgar falls, Hot Springs tour was wonderful but taxing. It was rated a "easy tour". It was an hour and a half walk up steep hills to get to the lake and a 30 minute climb over huge sharp boulders to get to the Trafalgar Falls. I'm happy to say the majority of us divers made it to these remote sites but we're totally spent. I come back a much "fitter" person! What an incredibly beautiful island and people!

The airport hotel was very convenient -

This trip was a #10! (both underwater and on land!)

Two thumbs up!

Teresa Sorensen

Well, we are back in the cold, snowy, miserable midwest. We actually got back a day later than planned - Indy had high winds on Monday night so our flight from Atlanta was cancelled. Delta did put us up in a Days Inn and gave us breakfast vouchers and we were able to fly out the next morning.. Other than that problem, the flights were good. We were very pleased with ALM, and as you had indicated, they even had good food!

We were pleasantly surprised to find someone waiting for us at the airport in Curacao - the driver was very informative (as much as we could understand) about the island, sights, etc on the way to the hotel. It was after dark when we checked in and found the "ocean view" from the room was mostly the view of a restaurant, parking lot and construction, with a very small spot of ocean from a corner of the balcony. The next day we went down to see if there was a mistake and they moved us to a room with a great ocean view. (They did say that a room was considered ocean view if you could see the ocean at all). This room overlooked the pool, bar area, beach, ocean and had a perfect view of the sunset!

I don't know if you are aware of it, but they are in the process of converting the hotel to a Radisson, so there was some construction going on, but they left a letter of explanation/apology in the room along with a sampler of three small bottles of Curacao .

The beach and grounds were very nice. We had windy weather with scattered clouds the entire time but that kept you from getting too hot on the beach. Temps were in the mid 80's, water temp was 82 and the only rain we had was a 2 minute shower during dinner one evening, and then about an hour of rain as we were waiting for the transportation back to the airport on Monday.

The dive operation was great! I'll let Perry tell you more, but he dove every day. He hooked up with a gal from California on the first day and they were dive buddies for the week. She was an experienced diver and doing a lot of underwater photgraphy. She and Perry got along very well - she kept telling me what a good diver he was. She was particularly grateful for his navigations skills - not one of her strong points. The divemasters were great - a lot of fun. They let me go out on the boat three days when it wasn't full. So that was a real treat for me - something I had never done. I got to see more of the island than I normally would have.

We found 2 good places to eat within walking distance of the hotel. Right next door is the Seaside Cafe (basically a trailer with outdoor tables). Definitely nothing fancy but good seafood and very reasonable prices. About a 10 minurte walk away was the Fishermans Wharf - very nice with both indoor and outdoor seating. A fanicer place with entrees starting about $16 - excellent food and service! The hotel breakfast that was included in the package was also very good.

Well, I know this is kind of long but I thought you might like some feedback that you could pass on to anyone else thinking about going there. We had a great time and the only bad part was having to come home to temps in the teens and 6 inches of snow yesterday.

Thanks again for all of your help - if you come across any deals that include quiet beaches & good diving, let us know. The first few days down there it was very quiet with few people on the beach (my preference), but they were starting to get a lot busier about half way through the week.

Deb & Perry

RE: Curacao Dive In, Sept 2 - 9, 2001

Judy and I both greatly enjoyed ourselves and had so much fun with you and Ray (and Mike and Diane). We definitely need to do this more often. I hope you and Ray managed to get through the hurricane last week with no damage.

The Lions Dive Hotel is a very quaint Caribbean lodging with a pleasant twist. While many such resorts often have deficiencies in the upkeep of their rooms, The Lions Dive Hotel is kept in excellent repair with every appliance operating (AC, refrigerator, lamps, electrical outlets) and problem free plumbing. The rooms were kept clean and tidy by the staff, who were very friendly and eager to make our stay enjoyable. We would definitely stay there again.

The "Ocean Encounters" dive operation was one of the finest it has ever been my pleasure to dive with. The staff are exceptional, and Hans and Sandy run a first class establishment. The boats were in excellent shape, although I would recommend some carpeting or matting on the decks to prevent slippage and would also suggest some deck-tread on the boarding ladders for the same reason. If I stayed anywhere else on the island, I would still dive with Hans and Sandy at "Ocean Encounters".

The island of Curacao has a lot of history, only some of which we had time to explore. Next visit, and we have no doubt there will be another visit, we will do a little more island exploration.

As a personal note, I would also like to say a special thanks to you and Hans for arranging the ride in the police helicopter. That was a piece of this vacation I will never forget. thanks you. Do you have an e-mail address for Hans and Sandy so that I can e-mail a personal thank you to Hans?

Thanks for arranging this trip Sabah. Let's do it a gain soon. Bring Ray!! :-)

Tim & Judy Kary

Rachel and I are now back from Grand Cayman. We had a wonderful time and I wanted to let you know how much I appreciate the arrangements you made for us. Everything worked perfectly! The accommodation and the dive operations were excellent. Rachel passed her Advanced Open Water (I was very, very impressed with DiveTech and would highly recommend them.)and I had a great time!

So thanks for everything. I will certainly recommend Caribbean Adventures/World Dive Adventures to my friends and colleagues.

Julian

Everything was excellent.
Island Pine was a nice place, especially as it was
next to the Royal Palms beach bar. Used Frank's Water Sports for snorkeling
and had the best time with Captain John John. I would recommend him to anyone
needing a boat captain near shore or offshore.

Thanx for you help in setting this up.

Tom Robinson

Well we certainly had a great time, but then you knew we would. While Little Cayman may be first island we've visited that we could NEVER afford to live on, it is certainly a great place to visit. The diving
was stunning and Harold & Vinnie at Paradise Divers are great. Thanks to the tropical wave that stomped us on Sataurday, we had a few days of winter like rough seas, reduced visibility and strong currents and it was still even better than Bonaire. Our villa was wonderful (we weren't in the one that had a collapsed cieling from a leaking water pipe) and the only thing between our villa's porch and the ocean were Sea Grape trees with hammocks. I'll let you know when I post images from this trip. In the mean time, I've included a video frame grab of one of two octopus we saw on my last day of diving that were out for a stroll during the day.

Dave Beebe

Thanks for all your assistance with our travel plans. Our trip to Grand Cayman was absolutely perfect. We had a wonderful time enjoying the beautiful surroundings and fabulous activities. Of course, we snorkled nearly every day and took a boat trip to stringray city and the reefs. Jack also chartered a fishing boat. Troy and Jen caught two barracudas!

We rented a car and explored the island...Pedro's castle was especially interesting. From there we went to Rum Point, which was the only site we were alittle disappointed in (very crowded and touristy). Horsebackriding on the beach, trips into Georgetown, and relaxing poolside rounded out the week.

We were very pleased with Georgetown Villas. The accomodations were perfect, the staff was exceptionally helpful, and the condo was immaculate.

We had an excellent dinner at Casanova's in Georgetown and overall were very satisfied with the food and service wherever we dined.

Unfortunately, our trip home was alittle frustrating. Our bags were held in Grand Cayman because of a weight issue and we didn't find out till we arrived in Charlotte and were waiting for our luggage to go through customs. One of our group, Jen, was flying out the next morning for Japan and had packed her
bag to take with her. Additionally, our flight out of GC was delayed so we missed our connecting flight out of Charlotte. We were booked on the next flight at 10:20 p.m. which was also delayed until 11 p.m. Two of our bags were forwarded by the next day, but the last two took five days to reach us and
for Jen's bag to catch up to her in Japan. It was definitely good to see them!

Overall, the vacation was awesome. Thanks again, Sabah, for all your help and I'll be in touch when we begin planning our next trip!

Sincerely,

Dawn McCall

Awesome...we had a very good time. Thank you for all your help. The people at Georgetown Villas could not have been nicer. We are already thinking about when we want to go again next year. We would certainly stay there again. I am just curious if you represent any of the other MANY developments along the beach. The car was great, we had a lot of fun in our little open air Suzuki, we drove around a lot. Definitely the best way to go.

Anyway, I have a weeks worth of work on my desk, thats the price for going away and swimming with the stingrays!
Thanks again,

Bruce, Jan and Andy Love

Just wanted to thank you again for arranging our incredible trip to Grand Cayman. All 4 of us had a spectacular time! The weather was perfect, the accomodations fantastic and of course the diving fabulous. You were certainly right about the Anchorage! Thanks for switching our rooms. It was
just PERFECT!! I really appreciate your help----You are the BEST. I am passing your name & e-mail address onto some friends who want to go to Grand Cayman in November. Also, how are we doing on info. and prices for Christmas?
THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANKYOU!!!

Moe Mullen

I wish to express my enthusiasm with Caribbean Adventures of Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. I had no intentions of making a trip to Grand Cayman this Summer, but after receiving your newsletter and Summer Price Special I decided to enquire about a trip.From the very first telephone conversation with Margo, I was not only pleased but excited! Her excitement and professionalism are an excellent and rare combination. I found her to be knowledgeable and very east to work with.

After several conversations, the arrangements were finalized. I was very happy except for the fact that a flight from Buffalo to New York involved a small plane. This was a significant problem for two out of the three divers in our party. I made Margo aware of the situation but believed it to be a 'done deal'. I was absolutely ecstatic five and a half weeks later to receive a telephone call from margo stating that she was still working with the airline on this problem. A change fee might be required but there was the possibility of a solution. A week later, following several more conversations with the airline, Margo called with different flight arrangements involving a large airplane and NO CHANGE FEE!

I was very impressed and satisfied. I wish all my travel arrangements for dive trips were taken this seriously and followed up on with this type of dilegence. I formally recognize Margo's efforts on my behalf and she will certainly direct my travel choices in the future because this has been such an easy and pleasant experience! Her work ethic is yet another example of the excellent service I have come to expect from Fisheye over the last several years.

Sincerely

Moe Mullen

Just thought you'd like to hear that Nathan's and my trip to Cayman Brac was great.

Flights and connections worked, no problems. American even managed to get our bags through Dallas without losing any. (I've had problems with them in DFW in the past)

Divi Tiara was fine...not fancy, but Brac is a small island and I wasn't expecting some fancy-schmancy resort. Their dive operation is very well run, boats go out on time, run to a wide variety of different sites
through the week.

Brac is quiet (we expected that) and there aren't many other restaurants, but we managed to hit several of them...Captain's Table is the nicest, but also pricey. Aunt Sha's is good for local food and within a reasonable bike ride of the Divi, as is Captain's Table. We rented a car one day and ended up driving back to the north side of the island to L'Esperanza for dinner that evening. Had to eat pizza from Domino's one night (that's the penalty for travelling with a 12-year old...they HAVE to have pizza at least once a week!).

All-in-all, a great trip...thanks for your help...we'll keep World Dive in mind the next time we're headed down into the Caribbean...

Alan Ritter

As always, love Grand Cayman, Victoria House and Fisheye. Fisheye was wonderful working with us to schedule dives given family (kids) and weather conditions. Sabah was excellent to work with in booking and scheduling our trip. She was wonderful in helping my sister and I coordinate our trip across the country. Loved working with her.

Jeanne

I can't believe I haven't done this before this, but I want to thank you for your efforts, and especially for your patience with our group trip last February! We had a wonderful time on Bonaire, and everyone at Buddy Dive Resort were wonderful! We got first class treatment, and really enjoyed our trip! My husband, who isn't even a diver, enjoyed it, and was talking about going back before we even left!

I want to apologize, again, for some members of the trip group and how they treated you. I know from Shelia and Rick Wagner that you are a professional and take pride in your work, so doing your best comes natural. And this especially showed when you were able to change our trip arrangements from
Honduras to Bonaire without breaking your stride. We really appreciated your insights about Buddy Dive Resort, too!

Just for your information, the other part of the trip group did go to Honduras, and had a good trip.

Again, thank you! Keep up the good work, and maybe we can arrange that future return trip to Bonaire
through
you!

Thanks!

Janet Boley

We were very happy with the Bonaire arrangements made by World Dive. The resort was well managed. The dive operators were friendly and helpful. The boat dives were a lot of fun. We definitely plan to revisit Buddy Dive at some point in the future.

Dave Lieberman

Great trip! All went well. The flights going were on time, and we didn't have any problems getting the ALM tickets reissued in Miami. Buddy dive had a Bonaire Tours van at the airport to meet us.

Accommodations, meals, the van, and the dive shop services at Buddy Dive were all excellent, and the entire stay was extremely enjoyable. Absolutely no complaints--everyone was very helpful, accommodating, and pleasant.

Making the return confirmation with ALM was a pain, since we had to go to the airport to accomplish it. Also, as anticipated the ALM flight from Curacao to Maimi was delayed several times. ALM did provide a snack and drink at the Curacao airport while we waited, and the plane finally departed at 1:00 PM. All bags arrived in good condition, and the AA checkin in Miami went smoothly. Clearly scheduling the six-hour layover in Miami was a good decision, since we were able to avoid resheduling the Miami-to-SFO flight. Ultimately, the AA SFO flight delayed an additional 45 minutes due to bad weather at SFO, so we didn't arrive home until about 1:30AM this morning, a little tired but in great spirits.

Again it was a wonderful trip, and the diving was incredible! Thanks again for you assistance in helping us to pull this thing off. We certainly appreciated the special effort you made to ensure everything went so smoothly.

Russ

Our trip to Bonaire at Buddy dive was the best trip we have ever had and we have been diving everywhere. Thank you so Much! We are ready to book for next year for a 3 bedroom condo at buddy dive. Could you give us a price for 2 weeks and possibly 3 weeks.
Thank you,

the VanSteenkiste family

We had a great time despite the fact that AA over booked our flight out of SFO to Miami and didn t forward our luggage. We got into Bonaire with only our regulators and toiletries. The Plaza staff was great and provided us with BC s, wetsuits, etc at no-charge and we offered to pay the one day rental charge and they wouldn t take our money. The hotel concierge went beyond the call of duty and got on the task of getting through his contacts with ALM and had the bags picked up at the airport the next day as soon as the next flight from Miami arrived the following day and brought them into our room as quickly as humanly possible. Annabelle gave us a big hug when she saw us again and offered Alice some of her clothes to help us get by until they arrived&what a sweetie.

The dive boats were in great shape as always and we liked having Jerrad (our Dive Master) all week as he was always smiling and was a pleasure to dive with. We dived with another couple and the five of us swam right up to a giant turtle sleeping on the reef at aprox. 20 meters down. The five of us agreed that his size was approximately 1.5 meters wide not including his head or flippers. Jerrad dives these waters every day and had never come across a sleeping giant turtle nor had see this big guy before&a great treat. The Plaza was beautiful and clean as always and we had a wonderful time. TC was our daily bartender and told us of the best restaurant in Bonaire and made the reservations for us the day before on her off day just to make sure we got in. Alice is sending thank you notes to both TC and Annabelle for their thoughtfulness. You just can t put a price on this kind of thoughtfulness from a great staff of hard working people.

We found the reef cam at Small Wall and were surprised to find Cellular One now in operation on the island.

Maybe someday we ll have a chance to dive with you.

Bill

We all loved Bel Mar Resort in Bonaire! The reef outside Bel Mar was nice during the day, but wonderful at night. Everyone at Toucan went out of their way to make sure we enjoyed our diving. We saw five small Reef Shark while we were there at Repel. Very unusual for Bonaire I understand. Some of the more shallow reef was damaged by Lenny, the deeper was beautiful as always. The north side of Klien was hit and no diving is going on at this time. I could go on and on... We had a great vacation! All of our travel and accomodation arrangements were uneventful, which is amazing since we were on United!
We'll be in touch.
Jim and Carla Coats

Jim and Carla Coats

Yes, we had a wonderful time, as we always do at Buddy's. The first thing that struck me when we got there was how they really make an effort to continue to improve everything. It's obvious money is being poured back into the resort as it never looked better! The truck worked out so well and our rooms were cleaned and fresh sheets every day. We had so much fun and can't wait to go back in 2003.

The one thing that really bummed me out was the damage that Lenny did on the coral from about 30 ft. to the shore.

Of course, ALM didn't get our stuff to Bonaire until late in the evening of the 1st. It was sort of a hassle having to go through Curacao, but at least all the flights left on time and we got home safely. They may be dysfunctional but at least it's a safe airline. Next time, we will make sure we book EARLY so we don't have to deal with Curacao.

Other than that, we're back to normal in the cold, grey north. We have the realtors coming over today to meet with us on selling the house. As soon as that's done, we will move back to Connecticut. Lots of stuff to do in the next few months.

Thanks again for everything. You're the best! I promise to keep in touch once things slow down here.

Ciao, ciao, ciao!

Gail

I did mean to get back with you after my wife and I made our September trip to Bonaire, but time does fly. I thank you very much for the travel trips you gave me beforehand. They came in handy.

We had a great stay at Buddy Beach and great diving. Everyone at the resort was very helpful, especially Murphyn and Alex, who are great characters. We did get delayed on our return because of Hurricane Floyd, but who can complain about the accommodations.

We definitely want to return next year. So many dive sites, so little time!!

I do have a question I would like to run by you. Can you handle the next trip directly with us, including the flights to and from Greensboro, NC? We booked this trip with you through our local travel agency, with whom we have dealt for a number of years. They handled the flight reservations with Delta and ALM directly. Trying to reschedule the return flights due to the hurricane delay was less than satisfactory with me as I was able to deal with ALM directly on Bonaire much better and I ended up wasting money on fruitless phone calls to my travel agent.

So, if you at WorldDive can handle the whole package directly, I may wish to go that route for the future.

Please advise at your convenience.

Thanks again for great service.

Bill Johnston
Kernersville NC

Just got back today. What a great dive vacation you arranged for Carolyn and me in Bonaire. Plaza Resort was outstanding. Toucan Diving operation was great. I thought I couldn't dive because of my ear problem, but after the check out dive at 18th palm on the beach, I said $%#@ and dove every day as my ear improved with each dive. What can I say? Diving was awesome. Best visibility my wife and I've experienced...150 ft plus. What fish life and coral reef! Irene da Cunda from the photo shop filmed two days of diving for only 45 American dollars and made us a beautiful video for us to take home.

Richard's was outstanding...ate there 3 nights. Judith gave Carolyn and me a terrific massage. Met lots of great fellow divers and made new friends. We'd definitely do a repeat trip to this property.

Kenji

I will just tell you a little about the trip this time versus the trip to Bonaire year before last.

Buddy Dive is wonderful and the food has improved 100% I mean they had really good food. I could have eaten every meal there and never gotten a bad meal. The staff from the people who cleaned up after us to management could not have been nicer. The dive masters were great and made you feel like they had known us for years. I was heart broken about the devestation at slagbai from the storm, but it did not dampen my love of Bonaire. My schedule while there went like this: Up at 5:00 am to run. I would run through town in the dark until the sun came up. I never had one problem with any one fishermen and dogs sleeply greeted me, people going to work early would honk and wave. I would head back to the resort for a wonderful breakfast outside watching the ocean and a manta ray that showed up every morning about 7:30 or 8:00 am. Then a dive, hike, kayak or what ever and so it went I have not one bad comment. I cut this short ha ha, because it looks like I am running out of room.

Thanks for every thing,

Sydne Hampton

This is a note to let you know we had a great time on Bonaire. The Divi Flamingo was a really nice
place to stay. Even though our plane was late arriving, they had a bus waiting for us and they even kept
the kitchen open so we could get something to eat and drink. The dive shop operation is one of the
best run I've seen and Serge (the manager) went out of his way to accommodate us. As you remember
this trip was based around our handicap divers. Who were very impressed with the service and
accommodations. The staff, as a whole, were friendly and very helpful, and the place was fresh and
clean. The rooms were all big and roomy with full kitchens; except the handicap accessible rooms, they
were just big and roomy. Couldn't have picked a better place. Rooms with a view, breakfast and
dinner over the water and diving was excellent! Everyone left very happy and tired, but not wanting to
leave.

I appreciate the way you put the package of twelve together for us and for the lack of problems we faced because of it. I feel you covered all the bases very well. We will definitely contact you for our next big trip (and will even be making a return to Bonaire).

Again, Thanks and Bon Bini...

Steve Phillips

Just wanted to send a note of thanks and tell you the 10 of us had a wonderful time at Buddy Dive in Bonaire last week. Weather was great...diving was great...accommodations were great...and food.....well, what can I say except g-r-e-a-t overall a fantastic trip (until we started back home on Sat.). Our scheduled 9:55 am DCA flight out of Bonaire was changed (that am) to make a stop in Curacao...so the 2 agents at the counter had to rebook each person from BON to CUR then CUR to MIA....talk about island time!!! Anyway, bottom line we arrived 2 hours late into MIA...but I thought we'd be fine since we originally had a 3-1/2 hour layover!! It took forever to get our luggage and a bigger f-o-r-e-v-e-r to get through customs...don't think I've ever seen it so bad. And since DCA still hasn't worked out agreements with the other airlines to "check bags through" it's really tough. We raced upstairs only to be told by a (rather pompous) USAirways agent that we were 5 minutes too late because they had just "closed the flight." There were no other connections on USAirways back to Tri Cities until Sun am, so I asked him about putting us on Delta since they had a flight that had space........then, everything worked out fine...We all arrived home safely at 1030 PM, only 2 hours later than scheudled. But it was a pretty stressful day after a really fun week.
Thank you for the restaurant recommendations...Richard's on the Waterfront was super and so was Blue Moon (fish florentine was out-of-this-world and I don't even like cooked spinach). We also went to the Lion's Den for lobster----several of us swore it was the best ever! and Den Laman's was quite good also. Ate at Dock of the Bay the other times and especially enjoyed their Friday night party and BBQ....a good way to end the week. Alex (one of the boat captain's) asked me to dance.....he's a trip and a half!!!! Gotta watch him.....no, we all really enjoyed him and Martin, Marc.....Corina was great, Lisa, Lourdes....the whole group.
So thanks again for arranging everything...the truck and van worked out really well, did a couple truck dives, an island tour in the van...most of us have done that in the past, but it was really fun for 7 of us. An all 10 of us swore we'd go back there soon.
Thanks bunches,
Linda
P.S. If you have any suggestions for ~20 people...maybe a few more for next May, please let me know. We all love Little Cayman but shore diving surely is nice like off the dock at Buddy's, and I don't know of many good "shore diving" spots. Sea of Cortez interests me. And Grand Turk...but there's no shore diving there, right?
BYE..

Linda

I love getting your newsletter!
We just returned from Anthony's Key Resort in Roatan - what a wonderful experience. Diving was wonderful, food great - loved the rooms on Anthony's Key and of course the dophin dive was fantastic.

Cathy Treadway

We had a great time in CoCo View last May, and appreciated all your help in making it happen. We'd like to go back, but are also interested in trying out other resorts. We decided last week that we'd like to go somewhere this fall, perhaps in the next month or so. Do you have any "last-minute" suggestions? I remember that you lived in the Caymans for a few years -- we're interested in diving there, too, if you have any suggestions.

Thanks,

Rick Cherry

Well, we just got back from Utila and we had a wonderful time. Everything went nice and smooth. It was great to have the gentleman waiting for us in San Pedro Sula.

We did not have any problems with the "no see ums". Maybe we didnt have trouble because Utila lodge is located over the water? The only time we got any bites was when we were waiting at the "airport" to leave. The airport is a grass runway if you have never been there. Too cool or what!

The diving was really great and we got to see a whale shark and get in the water with it twice. It was about 20 to 25 feet long. So beautiful and graceful. We also got to see a pod of Orcas! Almost unheard of in Utila, they usually are in colder waters! There were at least 5 that we were able to count.. one was tagged on it's dorsal fin, but no one could read it. :0) You don't get in the water with Killer whales!!! During one surface interval, we did a little scavenging. Apparently a cargo ship crossed from the mainland to one of the islands during the night, and had to dump some cargo. We collected 20 bottles of fabric softener, 4 pineapples, cantelope, watermelon, sqash, and bananas! It was really funny to see all the veggies in the water. I hope turtles like green beans and cellery. We got to see two sailfish in the water that were checking out the debris. That was pretty cool too.

We ate well, watched some fabulous sunsets, hung out with some really cool Honduran parrotts, played a little pool,met some nice people, did a little "shopping" ( not much on Utila... bought an orange from a street vendor, and a little painted wooden box, made in Honduras, but NOT on Utila) and relaxed, did a total of 17 dives each, and they were nice long dives too, some were as long as an hour. So now we need a vacation from our vacation. I cried when I left. You were absolutely right that we would like the
place. We will go back there again. It's just so nice to go to dinner in your bare feet! Thank you so much for helping us gave such a wonderful vacation.

Sincerely

Ellen and Randy Adams

Thank you so very much for your help in my planning my first dive trip! I can't tell you how comfortable, and relaxed I was at Coco View resort. The staff was helpful, friendly, and wonderful. My fellow dive buddies assinged on my boat were even more terrific.

The diving was spectacular! I could not have hoped for a more perfect holiday. A couple of friends of mine, who I meet on the trip are considering an exteneded weekend over labor day. Of course after this trip we would like to keep the cost as low as possible. We're thinking of cozumel, but are open to other suggestions.
thank you again,

Joseph G. Illovsky

We just got back from our trip to Utila on Saturday, October 20th. We couldn't be happier. Don't hesitate to suggest this resort to anyone. We loved it so much, we would like to plan a trip back and bring our two junior divers with us. We weren't lucky enough to see any whale sharks because Hurricane Iris chased them away, but the reefs were gorgeous, and we were lucky enough to see a huge spotted eagle ray and a very large stingray with a remora attached and much, much more.
One request: If ever I book a dive trip, and you feel another place would be more to my liking, such as Laguna Beach Resort, please don't hesitate to say something. This was the perfect trip. Thanks again for all your help, and you certainly can use this e-mail or refer someone to me if they'd like to ask anything about the Resort. You will definitely hear from us again in the future!!